Would you like to start a Ron Paul Revolution?
One thing I've noticed about the Ron Paul phenomenon -- which has pulled numbers from the Left and Right with popular anti-administration, anti-war sentiments -- is how little many of his newfound supporters know about the man.
Speaking of not taking responsibility for one's printed material, The New Republic decodes some of the Ron Paul cipher:
((Be warned, TNR's server is being crunched by this))
James Kirchick writes:
Antiwar conservatives, disaffected centrists, even young liberal activists have all flocked to Paul, hailing him as a throwback to an earlier age, when politicians were less mealy-mouthed and American government was more modest in its ambitions, both at home and abroad.
The story lays a lot of foundation before getting to its "nut graf" that Kirchick found back copies of Ron Paul's various newsletters and found lots of anti-black, anti-gay and anti-Jewish rhetoric:
What they reveal are decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays. In short, they suggest that Ron Paul is not the plain-speaking antiwar activist his supporters believe they are backing--but rather a member in good standing of some of the oldest and ugliest traditions in American politics.
Team Ron's response: Story is a politically motivated rehash of old news about newsletters topped with "Dr. Paul's" name, but he was totally unaware of the content.
Comments
Posted by: Isaac Garcia | January 10, 2008 4:02 PM
Posted by: rf g-r | January 10, 2008 7:59 PM
Posted by: jk | January 11, 2008 10:27 AM
Posted by: AP | January 11, 2008 11:42 AM
Posted by: Anonymous | January 11, 2008 1:39 PM